Burger King's classic product upgrade brings back consumers! Sales in the US skyrocketed in the second quarter to seize McDonald's (MCD.US) market share

The Zhitong Finance App learned that one of the fiercest competitions in the fast food industry has ushered in a decisive round in recent financial performance and industry data. Burger King, a subsidiary of Restaurant Brand International (QSR.US), achieved 8.5% same-store sales growth in the US market in the second quarter, easily surpassing McDonald's (MCD.US)'s sales growth performance of only 0.8% during the basic overlapping period during the same period. Although Burger King also renovated the restaurant and strengthened marketing promotion, the “Whopper” (Whopper) product upgrade is probably the main factor driving the rebound in performance.

This competition dates back to February of this year, when Burger King announced the launch of the first major “Royal Castle” upgrade in nearly ten years at all 6,600 stores in the US. Burger King President Tom Curtis said that the Castle adjustment this time was an “evolution” rather than a complete redesign. He said that the castle itself is an iconic product, so the company's goal is to improve it based on direct consumer feedback rather than reinvent this burger.

According to reports, the current Fort upgrade includes: using a new sesame seed bread and using a special coating to keep the sesame seeds from falling off easily; upgrading the mayonnaise to add a fresh citrus flavor; and replacing the new shell-style packaging to solve the problem that consumers have long complained that King Castle is easily crushed in the package.

In March, McDonald's launched the “Big Arch Burger” (Big Arch) across the US. This large burger uses two quarter-pound beef patties, three slices of white cheddar cheese, crispy onions, lettuce, sour cucumber, and specialty sauce, and is touted by McDonald's as the brand's “biggest and boldest burger ever.”

However, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempchinski unexpectedly became popular online after trying the “Grand Arch Burger” in a promotional video, but the reason was not positive. He was ridiculed by many netizens for his hesitant small bite behavior and for repeatedly calling this burger a “product.” A few days later, Burger King President Curtis seized the opportunity and posted a video on TikTok, enjoying the Royal Castle himself, and joked that the only thing missing was a napkin.

Over the past few months, food websites and blogs have given a higher percentage of positive reviews of Fort Royal than reviews related to McDonald's “Grand Arch Burger.” Google search trend data also shows that consumer searches for “Whopper” (Imperial Fort) are more popular than searches for “Big Arch” (Big Arch Hamburg). Speaking about the development of the Hamburg war in an interview, Curtis said, “Many consumers are saying that this is the first time in a long time that they have come back.”